How old are you, Tree?

The tree is very green, but my editing skills somehow added a yellow tinge.  Oh, well.

To call the tree "old" would be inadequate.  Seemingly, the pine had survived decades and had been old even when Jenny was of age to notice it.  Mama, is that tree old?...Yes, it is old….How old?...It has been here since I was your age.

Tree stood tall, as farm houses were new and when farm houses fell apart.  Roads were built, children played around Tree, horses gave way to cars.

Locals knew it had been struck by lightening, suffering fire, but the rain left it to sizzle. 

As she grew and gazed at the passing landscape on the school bus, Jenny looked for Tree, anticipating it. ...around this curve...across this bridge...by Green's farm...up the rise..  From the top of that rise, the tree suddenly appeared and every time it took her breath away.

This tree was made for climbing, but sadly not for me at this stage.

Fifty-five years later, Jenny returned to the tree and finally climbed up the shallow drainage ditch to stand it the tree’s trunk, looking up into its branches reaching to the sun.

 How old are you, tree? She wondered.

Old, it answered.

S

County Hwy 7, Pike County, Nebo-Pittsfield road, Illinois
Long.-90.781594
Lat. 39.41907
Not entirely accurate
I would not bet the family farm on
this .

***This is its Google Map 3D Location: